1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a dreadful hurricane
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awful
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
a dreadful performance of a beautiful piece of music
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3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
dreadful news of a crime wave in the neighborhood
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4
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
the dreadful heat of the desert
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5
as in sheer
having no exceptions or restrictions
made a dreadful mess of his first marriage
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dreadful
The stakes were high — glory for the winners and a dreadful season at least ends with a very notable trophy and a Champions League place, ignominy for the losers; a worst season in living memory, no solace, no silver lining, just humiliation.
—
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 22 May 2025
Champions League prestige and money secured By winning the competition, Tottenham qualifies for the continent’s top club competition, the Champions League, next season – despite how dreadful the club’s recent domestic performances have been.
—David Close, CNN Money, 22 May 2025
The upshot is that their fans have instead sat through more than a decade of dreadful baseball, when maybe a committed rebuild early on in the process might have cut that stretch of agony in half or less.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 22 May 2025
Even after replacing Hyde, the Birds have continued their dreadful play, with their chances of making the playoffs having dwindled to less than 1%.
—Paul Bledsoe, Baltimore Sun, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 22 May 2025
Champions League prestige and money secured By winning the competition, Tottenham qualifies for the continent’s top club competition, the Champions League, next season – despite how dreadful the club’s recent domestic performances have been.
—David Close, CNN Money, 22 May 2025
The upshot is that their fans have instead sat through more than a decade of dreadful baseball, when maybe a committed rebuild early on in the process might have cut that stretch of agony in half or less.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 22 May 2025
Even after replacing Hyde, the Birds have continued their dreadful play, with their chances of making the playoffs having dwindled to less than 1%.
—Paul Bledsoe, Baltimore Sun, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dreadful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dreadful
Adjective
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May has been equally terrifying for Ukrainian civilians.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
27 May 2025
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As the mysterious contract killer Vincent, Cruise brings his usual on-screen qualities — strict professionalism, precise physicality, ruthless persistence — but turns them on their head to embody a terrifying, amoral murderer.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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Over the 18 games following a 21-run eruption against the historically awful Colorado Rockies, the Padres ranked last in the majors in OPS and third-to-last in runs per game.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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The timing isn’t awful for SDFC, which doesn’t play its next league game until June 14 and expected Lozano to be absent possibly into early July on national-team duty.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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The war has carried a horrific toll for Gazans, with many dead amid the fighting and whole neighborhoods razed to the ground.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
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Instead of just ending on that horrific moment, the show then cuts to Abby several days earlier.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Adjective
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The auto-revive for solo players on Night Lords is to combat the intense difficulties of those fights where a single wrong move can be death.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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But Tranter and Bartlett said Trump may settle roughly into this range of having an approval rating between 43 percent and 47 percent given the intense polarization of the country, as has been common in the past couple administrations.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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Johnson paired the look with sheer black tights, giving the ensemble a unified tonal element overall.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
3 June 2025
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The sheer emotional momentum of being part of something—a sea of people unified by purpose—dissipates into the static of daily life.—
Adam Met,
Time,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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There’s no doubt that Lewis, abandoned as a baby by his parents, has done some horrible stuff.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
26 May 2025
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Given the horrible economic incentives that government regulation has created, the surprise is not that some patients experience mistreatment.—
John C. Goodman,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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The birds' droppings end up on the ground and windows below, creating an ugly scene for staff, branch patrons and passersby walking in the River Market District.—
Joseph Flaherty,
Arkansas Online,
23 May 2025
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Compare the first half of Season 15 to Jodie Whittaker’s last outing as the Doctor, and things get uglier.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Larvae of the parasitic fly chew through flesh, transforming small nicks into big, gruesome wounds.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2025
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The gruesome recovery comes in the wake of a gruesome February incident, when a body was found inside a suitcase floating in the East River.—
Nicholas Williams,
New York Daily News,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dreadful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dreadful. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
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